ASGCC President Transformed Low Grades to Success

The current Associated Students of Glendale Community College president has come a long way since nearly failing his freshman year of high school.

ASGCC president, Arman Marukyan, has overcome family tragedy, recovered from a serious car accident and he has completely transformed his academic performance.

“I wasn’t the model student in high school,” Marukyan said. “After my freshman year, I had a .25 GPA; I failed everything, except I got a D in P.E. only because the coach liked me.”

During his sophomore year of high school, Marukyan continued to fail most of his classes, and before his junior year he had around 40 academic credits, though students should have around 120 credits.

Marukyan said that during his junior year something clicked and he started to put effort into school. He then started taking night classes, ROP classes and zero period classes to catch up on credits. Marukyan also took jump start classes at GCC his senior year and graduated high school with just under a 3.0 GPA.

“It’s nice to know you have someone who didn’t have his life together and now he’s turning it around and he’s student body president,” said Alen Andriassian, GCC student outreach and assessment program manager. “He really is an example of how students can be successful at the college.”

Marukyan is dedicated to his job as student body president and he turned down a study abroad opportunity this winter so he could focus on preparing for the spring semester.

“I think you have to be dedicated, especially in the winter, because you only have a month to prepare for the upcoming semester,” Marukyan said.

Student activities coordinator and ASGCC adviser Tzoler Oukayan said Marukyan is a great leader and “is not afraid to roll up his sleeves when he needs to.”

Although Marukyan is successful at GCC, his journey hasn’t always been a walk in the park. During his first year at GCC, Marukyan was rear-ended by a pickup truck at a red light. The impact of the crash was so intense that when his seatbelt pulled him back, the back of his seat broke.

The 21-year-old still has to deal with the aftermath of the crash; he has two disintegrating disks in his back.

“For a month or two when I would look in the mirror and see a car getting too close, I would freak out,” Marukyan said. “At night, I would have dreams that I was being hit by a car.”

After the crash, Marukyan wasn’t able to move much, walk or even get out of bed at times. He failed so many classes his first semester at GCC that he had to retake most of them. Now in his third year at GCC, Marukyan plans to transfer in the fall to Loyola Marymount University as a political science major.

After graduating, Marukyan hopes to continue his political career and he has aspires to become governor of California one day.

“Politics always fascinated me,” Marukyan said. “I feel like regardless of what career you choose there’s always going to be politics.”

Marukyan said he remembers while he was growing up many people had told him he would do well to get into politics. “My senior year of high school my AP government teacher said, ‘Hey Arman, pay attention, this is what you’re going to do for the rest of your life.’”

Although he has big dreams for the future Marukyan currently is focusing on how he can help both the Glendale and GCC communities.

Those who know him best, such as Oukayan, describe him as a great leader who will go far in life. Oukayan and Andriassian also agree on what most people are surprised to learn about Marukyan. Although the 6-foot-4-inch ASGCC president is slightly intimidating at first glance, his looks can be deceiving.

“He’s not such a tough guy,” Oukayan said. “He wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s a softy. You wouldn’t know that when you look at him.”

Marukyan will continue to lead the Associated Students for the rest of the spring semester before transferring in the fall.